After the Alchemist
by cloudy-cloud
Summary: We have all seen the pictures from the years after Ed and Al completed their journey, but how did things progress in the years said photos were taken? (rating is going to switch to M as the story progresses)
1. Chapter 1

**Here's my first Fullmetal Alchemist story! Yay! It's set after the ending of Brotherhood/manga, so it may give some details away hid you have not completed the series. It is mainly some short stories that lead up to and explain some if the pictures seen during the ending credits. Enjoy and feel free to review; your opinion will make the story better, and I would really like some feedback and suggestions you may have! **

Several months had gone by since Edward and Alphonse Elric had traveled to opposite regions of the world. The great distance between the brothers was strange, for they had never been so far from one another...

Along with this, the brothers were also out of contact; communication from the far west to Xing was quite difficult since few traveled beyond the eastern border of Amestris. However, a letter arrived at Al's temporary residence in the eastern country.

"Alphonse!" May Chang, the seventeenth daughter of the previous emperor exclaimed upon receiving the mail for her romantic interest. "This is for you," she handed it to him, "it's from Resembool."

Al looked up from a book on Alkahestry. "Resembool?" Closing the book, the youngest Elric took the letter from May. "It has to be from Winry! I wonder how she's doing; she must be lonely after me and Ed left again."

Tearing the envelope away, Alphonse unfolded the paper in surprise. The writing was not that of his childhood friend; it was the recognizable scrawl of his older brother. "I didn't know Ed was back home..." He mused while reading the letter.

Before getting half way through it, Al's jaw dropped, and his eyes grew larger at the words written on the page.

"What's wrong, Al?" The Xingese female asked, taking notice of her loved one's expression.

"Nothing's wrong," the young male replied as his face lit up with joy, "it's Ed and Winry; they're getting married!"

"What?" The Chang heiress chirped. "But when did they...? They didn't even tell us that they were involved! Did you know about this?"

"No, I had no idea..." Alphonse replied. "I mean, I know that brother was interested in her, but I didn't think things would progress this fast! I thought Ed was still out in the west somewhere!"

After a few seconds of silence, Al finished reading his brother's message. "Well," he returned his gaze to the beautiful young Chang, "do you think you could continue teaching me Alkahestry in Resembool? The wedding isn't too far away, and I'd like to see Ed and Winry."

"Of course!" May squealed. "I'll go anywhere with you, Alphonse!"

•-•-•

It took several days for Al and May Chang to arrive in Resembool; they had to cross the barren desert and ride multiple trains before reaching the Elric's hometown.

It was a beautiful sight for Al, seeing all of the familiar views from his childhood. However, the best part of returning was being able to see his brother. Even though a few short months were all that separated them, Ed and Al had much to speak about.

"Hey, Al." Located on a bench across from the train's exit sat Edward Elric.

"Brother!" The younger Elric shouted upon realizing Ed was there to greet May and himself.

"How's it going?" The trio consisting of the brothers and the young Xingese female began walking back towards the Rockbell residence.

"May's been helping me with Alkahestry," Al replied with a smile aimed at the others, "I guess that's about it... We were planning to go further east next month, but then I got your letter and changed our plans so we could visit you."

"So Ed," the shortest in the group began, "when did you and Winry decide to get married?"

"Yeah! And why didn't you tell us before now?" Al added; from the day that their mother died, the Elrics had shared everything and only truly opened up to each other.

Ed shrugged with a sheepish smile before scratching the back of his head. "Well... I guess it happened when I was getting on the train to head west, and-"

"Did you even leave?" Al interrupted, wondering whether Edward had actually ventured beyond Amestris.

"Yeah," the eldest replied, "for a few months, anyway... But I came back shortly after that when my automail got messed up, and then I realized that I didn't want to leave Winry again, so I decided to stay in Resembool with her."

"Al! May!" Just a short distance away was the Rockbell home, and Winry was standing on the porch calling out greetings to the younger Elric and his romantic interest.

The blond female jogged down the wooden steps to welcome her companions. "How have you both been? I haven't seen you for years, May! And Al, it's been too long since I've heard from you."

"Sorry, Winry," Alphonse responded while smiling to prove his apology was an authentic one, "we've just been busy with Alkahestry."

"I'm just glad that you had a safe trip here," Winry admitted, "why don't you come out your things down inside? Traveling from Xing must have been tiring."

"It does take a while," May Chang noted as the group ascended the stairs to enter Winry's home, "but it was worth it!"

"Ed, can you take their bags upstairs?" Winry asked of the eldest Elric. "Grandma will get mad if we leave them down here."

"Sure," Ed sighed; Winry always got him to do this kind of thing, but he knew she was an extremely busy person with her automail and all.

Alphonse pushed the front door closed with his foot as he was the last to enter. "I'll help you, brother."

"Would you like to help me with dinner, May?" Winry turned to the Xingese female. "I was going to make an apple pie, but I won't have enough time to do that and dinner without some help."

With May agreeing, the two females went towards the kitchen, and the brothers hauled all of the luggage to the upper floor.

They entered the room they once shared as children. "You can both sleep in here while you're staying," Ed told his little, yet taller, brother, "you can push the beds together if you want to... but remember that little hag is here." He added as a warning, causing Al to chuckle.

"I'll keep that in mind," Alphonse replied, "she's like a grandmother to us, so I'll be careful to make sure that she won't be aware of what happens between May and I... It must be strange for you and Winry with her always here."

"Well..." The elder brother sighed, not really sure how to respond.

Al watched as Ed hesitated to answer. "So you haven't...?"

"It's not like nothing has happened..." Ed slouched against the wall to begin telling Alphonse an embarrassing story about why his relationship had not yet been a sexual one.

- the story -

Edward had been back from the west for nearly a month at this point, and things at the Rockbell residence were rather boring at the current time: Pinako was running some errands, and Winry was busy working on a new automail design. Therefore, the Elric had nothing interesting to do.

He had resorted to sitting in the front room on a sofa, listening to Winry run her grinder over pieces of metal to make then smooth. Entertainment was limited in Resembool, especially without the ability to perform alchemy.

Eventually, Edward heard the machine stop. Shortly after, Winry entered the room and examined the slumped position Ed was in.

"You seem bored," the girl concluded, "I can give you some chores to do."

"Haven't you given me enough things to do in the last couple of weeks?" Ed sighed. "I came back from the west to see you, but I barely have with everything you've got going on along with the tasks you and Pinako have been giving me."

"Okay then," Winry replied cheerfully before taking a seat next to Ed on the sofa, "I'll take a break from working on my new automail."

Ed smiled at his future bride. She was so beautiful and kind; how did he not realize that he was in love with her sooner? Either way, she was here with him now, and she shared his romantic feelings.

The pair spoke about various subjects for a short time, but, as with most couples, their interaction resulted in a kiss. This was not the first time they had made contact in such a way; however, this instance was much more passionate than the previous ones.

Edward slowly reclined Winry until both were lying across the length of the sofa while still tenderly brushing lips. It became clear and was accepted by each that this encounter would be highly intimate.

However, the moment clothing began to be shed, Den, the dog with one automail limb, began woofing at the front door. Followed by this, soft footsteps were heard climbing the wooden stairs leading to the front door.

"Ed," Winry pushed up on his chest, forcing his mouth away from hers, "someone's coming to the door."

"Just ignore them," Edward prompted; neither he nor Winry wanted to halt the impending event, "whoever it is can come back later."

The blond girl agreed by pulling Ed's partially nude body back to her... but when they both heard a key slowly unlocking the door, everything ceased.

"It's Grandma!" Winry frantically shouted in a whisper. The Elric pulled himself off of his future wife in a scramble to return the articles of clothing he had discarded mere moments ago.

By the time the old woman had opened the door, Ed and Winry were seated on opposite sides of the couch. Both were fully dressed, but the dishevelment of their clothing and red coloring of their faces provided enough evidence for Pinako to understand what was happening in her absence.

"Ed," the little woman began, causing the young man to tense his muscles, "did you finish the chores I assigned you?"

"Yes," he replied, face still flushed from the awkwardness of the current situation, "I did them before lunch."

"Tomorrow I am going to give you a longer list of things to do around here," she continued, "you clearly have too much time on your hands right now... You can call me old fashioned, but I don't approve of you getting so close to my granddaughter before you're married."

Both of the younger adults' eyes grew wide and made contact, as if to confirm whether they truly heard correctly. "Now then," Pinako added, "instead of looking so embarrassed, make yourselves productive."

- end story -

"So that's basically what happened," Edward concluded, "later that night, me and Winry decided that since the wedding isn't that far away, we're going to wait."

Al, who was now sitting on one if the twin beds, had a partially shocked and partially amused expression on his face. "Wow, brother," he laughed a bit, "that must have been really awful."

"It was pretty embarrassing... Winry looked completely mortified when Pinako came in. I can only imagine how I must have looked..." Ed added with some uncomfortable laughter.

"Do you know where you're going after your wedding?" Al proceeded to ask his older brother; there weren't really many destination type locations in Amestris, so he was genuinely curious.

Edward sighed. "We're going to Rush Valley. Winry hasn't been there in a while, and it's really one of the only placed not screwed up from the military's actions a few years ago... but that also means that she'll be fawning over automail the whole time."

"Hopefully not the whole time," the younger Elric replied coyly before breaking into another short fit of laughter. Edward joined while remaining hopeful that Al's words, though said as a joke, were true.

"Hey! Edward, Alphonse, dinner's ready!" Both heads snapped towards the entryway when Winry called out for them.

Downstairs, May and Winry were sitting at the table conversing while waiting for their respective lovers to join them. Once they arrived, May looked to them with interest.

"What you laughing about?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah," Winry chimed in, "we could hear you both busting up the entire time you were up there."

After spooning out some delightfully aromatic stew, the brothers joined the ladies at the dining surface. "We were just talking," Ed said while waiting for his dinner to cool off, "you know, catching up on the last few months."

**I will be updating every Wednesday, so the next chapter will be out 9/11/2013. Please review and give me ideas! Thanks so much guys!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is chapter two! I want to thank you all for reading! It means a lot to me; I hope you enjoyed chapter one, and I am willing to take an incorporate any suggestions you may have! I know the basic route the story will be taking, but I need ideas for how these events will take place. I appreciate the support from anyone who has read or reviewed!**

Time had flown since Alphonse and May had arrived to stay with the elder Elric and his bride, for this day was only forty eight hours prior to the upcoming ceremony.

More people had come to help prepare for the occasion, and some came due to the lengthy trip not coordinating with the train schedules. This meant that the home of Pinako and her granddaughter was crammed with visitors.

All available places to sleep had been occupied, and things were becoming quite hectic...

The Elric's teacher, Izumi Curtis, along with her husband had arrived several days ago. Though they didn't live terribly far from Resembool compared to some, Izumi's relationship with Edward, and Al, was one of a mother and child, so she wanted to spend time with the boys prior to the wedding, for after that, Ed and Winry would be away, and Al would return to the east again.

Shortly after the teacher had arrived, another bunch of familiar faces were greeted. Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, and the family of Maes Hughes, Gracia and Elicia, had all arrived from Central together. It was nice seeing those whom the brothers had not maintained contact with; however, the home had grown hectic as it was beyond its capacity for housing humans.

- the morning before everyone arrived -

The early morning sun had just risen, and everyone in the house, minus Pinako who was out for the current time, was sitting around the table eating breakfast that Winry had whipped up.

"Teacher's coming today, right brother?" Al, who had been visiting for a little over a week now, asked the older Elric.

"Yeah," Ed replied while scarfing down his meal, "she'll be here sometime this afternoon; Colonel Mustang and the lieutenant are coming, too."

Winry turned to him, but before she finished the mouthful she was chewing to address the concern Ed had induced, Alphonse spoke again. "Isn't he a brigadier general now?"

"Yeah, whatever," Ed snorted over the promotion, "either way, they're coming to stay, too."

"What do you mean they are staying?" Winry finally asked after swallowing her food.

"Mustang told me that since Hawkeye is pregnant now, he doesn't want to stress her out by trying to rush here," Ed said with confusion towards Winry's accusatory tone, "so I told him that they could come a few days before."

"But Mrs. Hughes and Elicia are coming to stay today; I told you that, didn't I?" Winry asked. "And with your teacher and her husband, we aren't going to have enough room for everyone!"

Edward abruptly stopped chewing. "Well... We're going to have to make room..." He resolved, though Winry was still distressed.

"Where? Al and May are in the spare room; Mrs. Izumi and Mr. Sig are going to stay in the room you're in, and I was going to let Mrs. Hughes and Elicia sleep in my room," Winry went over the preset plans that were currently in ruin, "we can't make Grandma give up her room, and there are only two couches; one for me and one for you... And we can't make someone pregnant sleep in a chair, and I'm sure that she and General Mustang will want to sleep with each other since they're married-"

"Winry," Ed cut in her rapidly increasing panic, "we'll figure it out. Don't worry about it; we've dealt with worse circumstances before." His words helped her relax, but his smile was the charm allowing her to fully believe that he was right.

Before another hour passed, Izumi and Sig were knocking on the Rockbell's front door. Though this teacher had seen her former disciples within the last year, she was eager to see them again, for to her, they were like the children she was prohibited from conceiving.

"Hello, teacher." Edward opened the door and offered his greeting before stepping aside, allowing her and Sig space to enter the house.

"Ed," Izumi smiled warmly at her student, "you've gotten taller..." Instead if congratulating the young man on his engagement, his height was the first thing she commented on due to the significant difference.

"I am," the eldest Elric grinned widely, proud of his growth, "now it looks like you can't call me short anymore, since I'm taller than you now."

Before Ed could continue to speak of his superior physical status, Al came out to the front room. "Teacher!" He exclaimed, happy to see the woman after two long years.

"Alphonse, you look great," Izumi noted, for she had not seen him since his immediate return from within the gate, "just like your old self," she added, "but a little older and taller."

"Yeah," Alphonse replied, "it took a while, but I'm feeling great now. It's nice to be able to enjoy the simple things we take for granted; I have so much more appreciation for everything now." Though his physical body had deteriorated while being locked within the gate, Alphonse's soul was still bright and warm, just like their teacher remembered.

"It's good to know that you are well," the woman turned back to the elder brother, "and I appreciate you letting us stay here, Ed; it's difficult to believe that you are getting married in just a few days..." It truly was a strange feeling; Izumi had taken in and trained these boys when they were still prepubescent children, so to imagine one taking on a wife was quite odd, even though she had witnessed them complete much greater feats.

"You'll be staying in the room that I've been sleeping in," Edward Elric told the woman and her large husband, "it's not that great, but it should work for a few days."

"I'm sure it will work out just fine; come on, honey," she turned to the burly, bearded man standing slightly behind her, "let's take our bags up."

"I'll show you which room it is," Al offered helpfully before leading the two Curtis's to the top level. Once they were cleared from the entryway, Ed went to sit down on the arm chair.

"I see Mrs. Izumi and Mr. Sig got here," Winry came into the room several minutes later, "I heard them come in, but I didn't want to interrupt your conversation."

"You wouldn't have," Ed replied, "have you come up with any ideas about where to put everyone else?"

"I think that we should give Mrs. Riza and the general my room," she mused; it would be insulting to make a pregnant woman sleep elsewhere, even though she was a soldier used to much worse, "but as for Mrs. Gracia and Elicia, I have no clue... It would be rude to make them sleep on one of the couches, and that would mean you would have to sleep on the floor, too."

"We could make Al sleep somewhere else," Edward suggested, "there are twin beds in that room, so Mrs. Gracia can sleep in there, and Al can sleep down here in a chair or something."

"And what about Elicia?" He had forgotten to assign a place for her.

"She's small; we can figure that out later," the young man brushed the topic aside, "she'll be able to fit anywhere we put her."

"People didn't used to that to you when you were way shorter," Winry mentioned, "so you should repay that favor."

The only reason Edward did not explode about being much shorter than the average human was due to the fact that he had grown quite a bit, making him average size. However, Winry's comment did strike a nerve since he was offended so many times during his pipsqueak stage.

"I know it's not ideal," Ed commented on the topic if sleeping arrangements rather than his previous stature, "but we don't have room for everyone to stay here comfortably, so we'll have to squeeze whoever we can wherever they will fit."

"That's true..." A heavy sigh came from the blond female. "Well, since you were so willing to volunteer Alphonse, you can join him in the floor. That way, there will be one more open sofa, and everyone visiting will be somewhat comfortable."

"I think they will," Ed responded casually, "it's not like anyone expects to be staying at a fancy hotel."

Winry smiled at her fiancée; he always knew how to help her relax... though they did disagree and argue over quite a few things.

Edward raised himself from his chair and took his soon-to-be bride in his arms, enjoying the feel of her warmth with his flesh limb.

Their tender embrace was cut short when the there was knocking at the door once again. This time, however, four faces were just beyond the barrier of wood.

It was Winry's turn to greet the guests, so she moved away from Ed to the door. "Hi! It's so nice to see you all again!"

Standing on the porch were Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, (though now that she had been married to Roy, she would be Riza Mustang) Gracia Hughes, and Elicia Hughes. Since they were all coming from Central, it was not unexpected for the two families to arrive at one time.

"Please, come in." Miss Rockbell said, stepping aside to let them enter. Both she and Ed took note of the distinct changes in the group. The most notable being Riza's protruding stomach. She and General Mustang had married about a year and a half after the Promise Day and gotten pregnant only months after that. The Hawk's Eye, as many referred to her as, was now in her second trimester.

Along with this change, Riza now had much shorter hair; it had returned to the length it was prior to her joining of the military.

"Colonel," Ed said from across the room, "you've grown a mustache." He observed, examining the facial hair of his former superior officer.

"You've also grown, Fullmetal," Roy remarked on Ed's height, "and it's general, now."

"I'm not an alchemist any more," Ed replied, "so don't call me Fullmetal."

"If you stop calling me Colonel, I'll stop calling you Fullmetal." Roy bargained as if they were children swapping treats from their lunch bags, and Ed nodded in agreement to the offer.

"Congratulations to the both of you," Riza said with a smile. She had known for quite some time that Ed had developed romantic feelings for this girl, so it pleased her to know that he had spoken his mind to her.

"Thank you," Winry replied kindly.

"Yes, congratulations," Gracia added while Winry pushed the front door shut, "this is very exciting for the two of you."

"Thank you; how have you two been?" Winry asked as she looked down to see Elicia; this little girl had also grown significantly in the previous two years. "I'm sorry I haven't come to visit in a long time; it's been busy around here with all of our automail customers."

"Don't worry about that, dear," Mrs. Hughes replied kindly, "we've been doing well, and I'm glad to hear that your work has been successful."

"A lot of the customers I had in Rush Valley while I was working under Mr. Garfiel have been making appointments here," the young blond informed them, "it's been nice having so many people wanting me to make their automail."

"So Ed," Mustang began while Winry and Gracia continued to chat, "where should we put our things?"

Edward scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well... I'm not sure yet... We kind of invited more people than we have room for."

"That's okay, Ed," Riza said, "I'm sure it will work out somehow."

Winry caught onto the conversation about sleeping arrangements. "We came up with a few different options, but it will be a squeeze no matter what we do. I'm really sorry about that."

"We will be fine wherever you put us," Gracia noted, "we're all thankful that you are having us." This was true for everyone; they all agreed that having the opportunity to reminisce and catch up with the Elrics was more important than being one hundred percent comfortable.

- present time (two days before the wedding) -

The sun was slowly starting to creep over the horizon, taking its rightful place above the land. The dull light shining through sheer curtains was not enough to wake anyone, so the household was silent.

The eleven people located within the Rockbell home were still in deep slumber, even with the conditions being less than ideal...

Pinako was still located in her room, but everyone else was placed randomly about the home. Winry's room contained Mrs. Hughes and Elicia; originally, Roy and Riza were assigned this room, but the Hawk's Eye insisted that Roy should sleep on a couch rather than one of the other women, which Mustang agreed with.

In the room Ed tended to sleep in, Izumi and Sig slept. The bed was large enough for this giant man and his wife, so it made sense for this couple to take it. Al and May had been sleeping in the room with the twin beds, but that also changed. May was still in there, but Riza slept on the other bed.

Downstairs was just a mess of people... Ed had originally started out by sleeping on the floor directly in front of the couch Winry was on, but when the girl for up in the middle of one night and tripped over him, he moved to the other side of the room. Now, he and Al were in close proximity to one another. They would have spread out, but this room was the only one with carpeting, so they managed to cram themselves around the furniture.

Mustang claimed the couch that formed an L with the other. It was a bit short for him to stretch out on, but he managed to get comfortable and doze off. Unfortunately for the others on this floor, he snored throughout the night, making rest nearly impossible for them...

"Hey!" Edward, who was thoroughly annoyed by his former officer's snores, quietly shouted. "Mustang, wake up! You're being really loud!"

Roy's eyes opened a fraction to stare icily towards Ed. "I'm trying to sleep... quiet down..." He grumbled at the former alchemist.

This unsettled the blond male, but he didn't want to wake Winry, who had somehow managed to fall asleep while Mustang growled in his sleep. Instead of trying to wake up the man, Ed decided to go out to the kitchen and grab some food rather than continue to become enraged over Roy's obnoxious wheezing.

To his surprise, there was some light radiating out to the hall from the kitchen as Ed moved closer to that room. There was also the sound of some quiet rustling; perhaps someone was going through the cabinets to find a snack.

"Oh, hey Al," Ed said as his brother made a sandwich on the counter, "I didn't hear you come in here; what are you doing up?"

"General Mustang is pretty loud," Alphonse sighed, "so I came to get some food. I'm guessing that you're here for the same reason?"

"Yeah. I can't believe Winry fell asleep with that... it's ridiculous," he said quietly so no one would wake up from their conversation, "he's so loud, and then he got mad at me when I tried to wake him up."

Al chuckled lightly at the thought; Mustang always did seem to turn things around on Ed, even petty things such as this...

"So Al, do you have any plans to get married?" Ed asked as he slowly ate a plain piece of bread, for he was too tired to actually whip up anything.

"Uh..." Alphonse hesitated before answering. "Maybe... Probably..."

His response made Ed laugh a little. "It's weird to think about, you know? It wasn't that long ago that I became the youngest state alchemist, and now, I'm about to marry Winry."

"It is kind of strange..." Al mused. "But it was pretty obvious for a few years that this would happen."

"What are you talking about?" Edward had not realized his feelings or Wirny's feelings for him until rather recently, which was understandable considering his prior task of reuniting Al's soul and body.

"Winry liked you for a long time; it was pretty obvious," Al responded, "that was back when you were still shorter than her."

"And you didn't tell me that?" The older one asked in an accusing tone.

"It really doesn't matter now..." Alphonse smiled guiltily, feeling as if he was keeping a secret from his brother.

"I guess that's true." Ed shrugged it off and continued to eat another piece of bread.

"So brother, where are we going to sleep?" Al threw out his trash after taking the last bite of his sandwich. "There's no way either of us will be able to sleep with the general being so noisy."

"I have no clue..." Ed heaved a tired sigh, wanting to return to a state if slumber. "It's kinda funny though, isn't it? When we didn't have places to stay while we traveled, we had to find the most obscure areas to rest, but I always fell asleep with no trouble. And now, Mustang's snoring is keeping us up."

"That's sort of sad... My body didn't need sleep, but I can remember you sleeping through a lot more noise than just someone snoring." The food was returned to the cupboards while Alphonse spoke.

"I guess we better find somewhere to lay down, huh?" Ed stretched his arms above his head; it was still relatively early, and both brothers had been up before the sun thanks to Roy, so finding somewhere peaceful to rest sounded like a good option.

**Chapter three is coming out on the 18th! I hope you continue to read! Thanks again for the support I have received from you! Please continue to review; it inspires me to write more! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys!**

**I'm really sorry, but this isn't a content chapter. I've had a really rough week: my dog died, I had three tests, and I had to work more than usual... I also got lost and wasted a while day driving around trying to get home because I'm an idiot. Anyways... The next chapter will be posted by next Wednesday; it's about half way done at the moment, but I just wasn't up to finishing it. My apologies! I truly am sorry, and I'm truly grateful for the support and reviews!**

**To answer your questions and comments:**

**PPearl: thank you so much! I'm glad you are enjoying the story! Long and Lan Fan will be in later chapters. **

**SpenstarianCreed1: they are all at the Rockbell's house for no real reason... I just wanted to shove them all in there. Also, when you watch the parts in the show where they are in Resembool, it is super rural and fields for miles, so I didn't think there would be hotels or anything. As for May, I was jut focusing on the other characters, but she will be back next week for sure! Thanks for reviewing! It really means a lot!**

**Hahhnahh: it was pretty slow when I look back on it; things are going to pick up quickly next chapter though. Thanks for the input!**

**TsukixnoEvernight: thanks! Your review was very insightful, and I will continue this story until the end; I've never given up on one for lack of reviews! (It might not be that obvious on this account, but my other account only has finished stories)**

**Thanks again guys, and I'm super sorry. I've just had a rough week... Please forgive me! :(**


	4. Chapter 4

**This is a little short, but I lost the first half I had after I updated my phone. I had saved it in an app that stooped working after the ios 7 update... It's a little slow, but it's going to start getting much better next week! I'll update next Wednesday!**

"Winry, are you ready yet?" Little Elicia Hughes asked the young woman.

"Almost," Winry replied, "just let me put on my earrings..." She slipped the metal bars through the holes in her cartilage. "Okay, I'm ready."

Today was the day right before the big event, so the women staying at the Rockbell home decided to take Winry out for a nice lunch. They tossed around the idea of a bachelorette party of sorts, but seeing as Hawkeye was pregnant and Elicia was so young, they settled for a female day of relaxation.

"So where are we going Winry?" May Chang asked, for no one knew the landscape of this rural area with the exception of the bride-to-be.

"There's a nice little restaurant in town. If we go towards the train station, we'll end up just a few minutes away from it."

Following those directions, the five women and one girl arrived at the family owned diner. After being seated and receiving the food, everyone began talking about the upcoming wedding.

"I can't believe you are getting married," Gracia Hughes stated, "it seems like you weren't much older than Elicia only yesterday."

"It's pretty hard for me to believe, too." Winry replied while staring down at her hot bowl of soup.

"You must be so excited!" May exclaimed in her cheery fashion. "I wish that Alphonse would propose to me..."

"I'm sure he's just waiting for the right moment," Winry smiled over at the Xingese girl, "he's such a sentimental person; he probably wants to make sure it's really special."

"I hope so," May sighed, "how did Ed propose to you?"

This caught everyone's attention; all wandering eyes focused on the young Rockbell, for no one knew how Edward would do such a thing... he had never seemed very romantic.

"Well..." Winry let the word drag out for a long moment, "he was about to leave for the west, and then he started talking about equivalent exchange, and he said he would give me half of his life if I give him half of mine... it was really awkward, but I could tell that he really meant what he was trying to say."

"That sounds stupid," Elicia laughed at Ed's silly attempt at proposing.

"Elicia," her mother said in a slightly scolding tone, "don't be rude."

Winry chuckled along with the little girl, "it's not the best proposal story in the world; that's for sure."

"Ed never seemed to be the kind of person that would be good with women..." Izumi added to the conservation.

"It sounds like he was nervous about it," Riza joined in, "I know he was in love with you for quite a while. I spoke with him several years ago and it was apparent then that he truly cared about you."

"He was nervous; his entire face turned completely red," Winry laughed a bit more at the memory, "that reminds me; I wanted to ask how General Mustang proposed to you."

Riza gave a small smile before beginning her tale of engagement...

-how Roy asked Riza to marry him-

"Lieutenant," Mustang approached his most trusted subordinate, "I need you to find the files about Ishval's reconstruction; I am meeting with Scar to discuss the next step in the process."

"Yes, sir." Hawkeye replied and went to retrieve the documents. She returned with the folder several moments later and noticed that the man had a strange look on his face.

"I have been wanting to ask you something for some time now, Lieutenant," Mustang mentioned, "would you be interested in joining me for dinner?"

"With all due respect, Colonel," Riza started, "I do not believe dating a superior officer would be appropriate."

"Would you consider it if that officer was your spouse?" He asked the question with a loving smile spread across his face.

Riza returned the look. "I suppose I would consider that, sir."

-back to present time-

There were several looks of awe at the table when Riza finished telling the tale.

"So you just said yes?" May asked; she found that situation even more dull than Ed's proposal.

"Yes," the pregnant woman replied, "it wasn't the most romantic way to go about it, but similar to Ed and Winry, Roy and I have known each other for a very long time and were aware of our feelings for one another."

"So you didn't want to date him?" Izumi asked, finding it humorous that she would not date the man but agree to a marriage.

"We spent the majority of every day together," Riza replied, "so we already knew everything about each other, and dating is just figuring out if you are compatible."

"So it is like us..." Winry commented. "I've known Ed from the time he and I were infants."

The conversation continued into a discussion about how each woman met the man she shared her life with, and it was quite an entertaining discussion for all but Elicia.

After the majority of the food had been devoured, the group of females decided to retreat to Winry's humble dwelling. Upon returning, the ladies noticed that the home was empty with the exception of Den.

"It looks like they went out to celebrate as well," Winry noted, "hopefully they won't be reckless... but we all know how men can be."

"I'm sure they won't do anything too stupid," May said, knowing that at least Alphonse was a responsible person, "you should just relax; things have been really stressful for you lately."

"I wish I could relax," Winry replied, "but I have so much o my mind right now..."

**So, like I said, a little slow... It's just to give you an idea of the women's side of things right now. I hoped you liked it, though!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone! I am so, sooo sorry for being a liar. I don't have a good excuse for posting this so much later than intended. I said I would post every Wednesday, and I clearly lied to you all. The only reason I have is that I am a super lazy person and haven't gotten around to it... I want to thank you all for being patient and not posting comments about how I didn't update or complaining about me not updating. It's so great to have followers that are tolerant of my stupidity. Hahaha... ha.. ha... So anyways... With that apology out of the way, here is the next chapter! I must admit that it is a bit slow, but it has an aspect of the story I didn't want to leave out. Please enjoy! Thank you all for your wonderful patience and generosity! You're all great! **

"So Fullmetal, are you ready to get married?" Roy Mustang asked the younger male.

"I'm not a state alchemist anymore, so that name doesn't apply to me," Edward corrected the General, "and as for your question, I guess so... I wouldn't have asked Winry to marry me if I wasn't ready for it."

"It's going to be a big day for you tomorrow," Mustang continued to speak as a bartender refilled his now empty glass, "you know, it's kind of hard to believe that you were that little shrimp of alchemist a few years back."

A vain popped on Ed's forehead at the mention of his previous height. "You always find a way to insult me, don't you?"

Before the conversation could advance into yet another battle between them, Alphonse decided to cut in. "Are you looking forward to being a father, General?"

"How hard could it possibly be?" The dark haired man responded. "I've dealt with rebels from Ishval for the last two years; I think I can handle a baby."

"I don't know..." Ed began taunting. "Adults are one thing: they can freely communicate even if they disagree with you, but an infant can't."

"I've dealt with immature children before, too," the way Roy declared this made it obvious that he was speaking of Edward, "besides, Riza is going to be a great mother, so I know that our kid is going to turn out fine."

"It sounds so strange to hear you call the lieutenant by her first name," Alphonse said as he swished the liquid around in his cup, "speaking of her, I wonder what she and the others are doing."

"Izumi told me that they were going to have a small celebration for Winry," Sig Curtis finally joined the conversation; he was usually a rather quiet man, "she said that since not everyone was able to drink, they would go out to lunch and then start preparing for tomorrow."

"Maybe we should go back and help," Al proposed as he looked to the window to see that the sun had completely vanished, "it all has to be set up by noon, and it's been dark out for a while now."

"Yeah... If we're out too late, Winry will beat me up with a wrench," Edward agreed, "and I don't really want a black eye for my own wedding."

At the Rockbell dwelling, most of the women were preparing food in the kitchen, with the exception of Gracia who was putting Elicia to bed.

"Not that I mind cooking," Izumi said truthfully, "but why didn't you have someone else bring the food?"

"Like a caterer?" Winry asked and received a nod. "There are many people who do that around here, and it was money that we didn't need to spend... but please don't feel like you have to help with this, though!"

"My husband and I own a butcher shop; I handle food everyday, so this is no problem," Izumi noted, "besides, you're the bride; you shouldn't be doing all of this the night before your wedding."

"I guess that's true but this gets my mind off of everything," Winry confessed, "to be honest, I'm pretty nervous and doing this keeps me from overthinking about tomorrow."

"But you love Edward," May noted as she closed the oven door, "you have no reason to be nervous!"

"I do love him; I love him more than anything else... It's just that... well... Ed and Al have been like brothers to me, and even though it's been a few months since that relationship changed, I just feel like it's going to be weird or unnatural."

"I guess growing up with him would make it a little strange," the other blond in the room noted, "but I'm sure that the strangeness will fade."

"Yeah, it will. You wouldn't have agreed to marry him if you felt that it would stay like that," the Xingese woman added, "don't worry about it Winry; you just need to relax and not think about anything until tomorrow!"

"It's so hard, though," Winry replied, "I always worry about everything too much, and this isn't an exception. This is supposed to be the best day of my life... so how am I supposed to relax?"

Suddenly, the young blond felt a hand on her back, and before she knew it, that hand pushed her into the hall. "Now listen up, Winry; you're not allowed to help with anymore of the preparations."

"But Granny, I-" the girl began to protest when Pinako excluded her.

"I know you said this keeps you from overthinking, but I can tell you're stressing out just as much while doing this," Pinako continued through the pleas of her granddaughter, "now settle down and try to relax. You know that everything is going to be just fine, and I want you to enjoy your wedding. The bride shouldn't be fretting over the preparations on the night before the event."

With a look of defeat, young Miss Rockbell went out to the front room to have a seat. She knew that her grandmother and the others were right, but she was always one that enjoyed having control over situations. However, her sulky thoughts were shattered when the front door swung open.

"Hi Winry," Alphonse greeted his almost sister-in-law, "how was your day?"

"Hey there, Al. It was pretty good... How was your evening out?" She smiled, but the signs of uneasiness were still lingering across her features.

"We had a good time..." Edward was the one to reply, and he quickly picked up on Winry's off beat mood. He looked to his little brother for assistance, and Alphonse got the message.

"General Mustang, Mr. Sig, let's go see what everyone else is doing." The youngest male instructed before leaving Edward and Winry alone.

The remaining man came to sit on the sofa next to his bride. "What's wrong, Winry?"

"Nothing..." she noticed the unconvinced look upon Edward's face, "I'm fine, really; all of this is just a little nerve wracking. You know, we grew up together, and I always though of you as a brother... but you're so much more than that to me, and I'm so glad that you are. I'm just nervous that we're actually taking the next step in this."

The male gave a chuckle of relief. "The look you gave me when I walked in made me think you wanted to call it off or something. You sure had me freaked out, Winry."

"Edward!" She lightly hit his scarred shoulder. "You should know that I would never want to do that! I'm so happy with you, and I don't think that will ever change... After all, we've been through so much together, and as horrible as it has been at times, I want to keep making memories with you." She blushed lightly at her confession, for she was still relatively new at confessing her feelings of romance.

"I would be lying if I said I'm not nervous, but like you said, we've had to deal with some horrible things," he smiled at her while holding her hand in his, "but this, this is going to be something great."

** So what did you think? My personal opinion is that Ed and Winry are sort if awkward in their relationship because they were basically raised together, and I think it's more fitting if them rather than just jumping all over each other. I feel like they should be awkwardly in love; after all, they both kinda sucked at expressing their feelings in the end if the anime/manga! So let me know what you think and feel free to yell at me for being horrible at updates! I'll try to do better, but no promises... I will continue it no matter what though! That is a solid promise, but it might take a while... Also... I need some name suggestions for Ed's children. It will be a while, but they were never named, so what do you think? Any suggestions will do! One for a boy and one for a girl! Thanks so much you guys! You all rock! And this is a really long author's note... **


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